In Africa, international standards in mine closure have tended to precede national ones, but several countries have put in place national legal requirements for social closure as part of the closure planning process. South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Tanzania are among these. Such Standards acknowledge the economic dependency a mine creates relative to its host community. This is a good start. However, while the technical aspects of closure might well be understood and carried out, the socio-economic transitioning aspects are generally not. Because one cannot be done successfully without the other, the challenge mines face is how best to integrate socio-economic transitioning into closure.
